Abstract. ‒ Căluşari, a ritual performed during the Orthodox holiday of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after the Easter Sunday, is one of the most recognized rituals in the Romanian folk ritual cycle. In 2008, it became the first monument of spiritual culture in Romania, and as such it was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In traditional culture, this ritual was part of the entire system of beliefs concerning the souls of the dead and dangers of being possessed by evil powers (rusalie). It possesses a clear structure consisting of a number of interrelated elements. These include, for instance, the creating of an all-male brotherhood, the flag-raising, the distribution of roles, the căluşari dance, and the use of apotropaic means. With time, the ritual became a point of interest of not only researchers and enthusiasts of the regional culture but also communist ideologues. It was transferred from its natural habitat to the theatre stage, which in turn initiated its transformation. Căluşari became a spectacle played on a stage and the “tradition” was spread with its own festival, created for that purpose. Gradually, many Romanians forgot the original meaning of numerous symbols and particular components of the ceremony. The author describes the practice of căluşari in its historical and cultural contexts, and explains how the political manipulation, on the one hand, and the activity of researchers, on the other, led to its transformation. [Romania, căluşari ritual, intangible cultural heritage, folk tradition]