As a traditional RPG game, Final Fantasy III features magic as a significant component and several jobs utilize it. While the nature of magic is never discussed in-game, the first volume of the Perfect Analysis guides for the Famicom version go into detail about magic and the uses it may have outside of combat.
It is worth noting that Final Fantasy III's UI depicts Magic as orbs. While the game itself almost never shows it clearly, artwork for the Famicom version and the guide confirm that Magic takes the form of orbs in FF3.
White Magic is said to have come from Saronia, in response to the creation of Black Magic. It largely is centered around healing others but it has offensive spells as well. White Magic is primarily the domain of the White Mage and Devout, although not entirely: In the Famicom version, both the Ranger and the Dark Knight knew White Magic up to level 3. In the remake, Knight and Scholar are the ones who know magic (Knight only having level 1 and Scholar knowing level 3 White & Black).
Cure: The traditional healing spell in ''Final Fantasy''. According to the guide, it utilizes healthy cell division to increase vitality and heal wounds. It also counteracts undead, which have "negative life energy".
Poisona: Cures the Poison status. According to the guide, it works by restoring abnormalities in the cells caused by poison.
Sight: Allows the player to see a projection of the world (Famicom) or a map of the world (Remake/PR). Less useful in the remake due to nature of the upper screen map, but can still be useful for places you may not have visited yet. According to the guide, it was used by travelers to help villages check on each other during the time when all the towns were of one nation.
Aero: A wind-based magic spell, one of the few direct attack white magic spells. According to the guide, it was used primarily to ward birds away from crops, with the aerial friction damaging their wings. It is said to be an example of magic born in the few era that follows the principles of white magic being used for strictly peaceful purposes.
Mini: Shrinks the target, making attacks ineffective. During gameplay, the party must use the spell to navigate certain dungeons too large to navigate physically. According to the guide, it was discovered by "a certain magician" on accident and works by shrinking the cell nucleus.
Toad: Turns the target into a toad, making them ineffectual in combat. The party uses this spell on two occasions to gain access to dungeons. Also has an easter egg in the 3D remake if used while a guest is in the party and the talk function is used. According to the guide
Cura: A stronger variation of Cure.
Teleport: Warps the party out of dungeons. When used in battle, it warps the party out of battle, ending the fight without getting gil or experience. According to the guide, a "famous magician" created this spell on the fly to save people trapped in a cave-in. It is incomplete and only utilizes the vertical axis.
Blindna: Cures Blind. According to the guide, it is part of the same class as Poisona, targetting the optic nerves of those who were attacked with magic.
Libra: Shows enemy information. In the original game, it showed only the HP value of enemies and did not work on bosses. In the remake and Pixel Remaster, it also shows weaknesses and works on bosses. According to the guide, it was created due to the relationship between medicine and magic being close enough that a skilled mage is also a skilled doctor, and therefore it is useful to know the patient's vitality. It notes that it is the magic of the new era and is expected to develop into more advanced psychological fields.
Confuse: Attempts to Confuse the target, causing them to attack random targets. According to the guide, it is derived from Silence, being a result of expanding upon it.
Silence: Attempts to Silence the target, preventing them from casting magic spells. According to the guide, it was created to counteract Black Magic.
Curaga: an even stronger variation of Cure.
Raise: Resurrects the target with low HP. According to the guide, it is used to resurrect those who did not get to live out their full life span. However, its effectiveness depends on the caster.
Protect: Increases the target's defenses; Unlike most Final Fantasy games, Protect in III targets both defense and magic defense, bypassing the need for Shell. The spell works somewhat differently between versions: The Famicom version increases the targt's defenses by one point, the spell can miss (it starts with 80% accuracy and increases with job levels) and it stacks. The remake and PR versions multiplies the target's defenses by 1.2 for 10 turns, but has 100% accuracy. According to the guide, this spell and a few others were initially created to empower and protect the labor force. The war would see the spell repurposed for use against Black Magic.
Aeroga: A stronger variation of Aero.
Stona: Cures the Stone status. It is part of the same line of spells as Blindna and Poisona, normalizing petrified cells.
Haste: Increases the target's hitrate, with a different secondary effect depending on the version; Famicom increases attack power by 5, 3D and PR increase the attack speed. According to the guide, it is part of the same class of spells as Protect.
Curaja: The Strongest variation of Cure.
Esuna: Cures all status ailments. According to the guide, Esuna and advanced mages can be said to be the result of a war-torn world.
Reflect: Reflects magic back to the opponents, whether it be attack or cure magic. According to the Guide, it is
Tornado:
Arise:
Holy:
Black Magic is said to have come from Sasune; The king at the time focused on it as a means of fighting Saronia. As a result, earlier magic that had more benign purposes were used for harming and killing others and new spells were crafted as well. Most of the magic would be sealed after the war, though by that point it had spread throughout the world and most of it has since been unsealed by Doga for the sake of research.
Fire:
Blizzard:
Sleep: Attempts to put the target to sleep. The guide explains that it was designed to put magic students into a meditative state of mind. It also explains that the spell is a very basic type of magic, making it ideal for beginners at the cost of not being very effective.
Blind: Attempts to blind the target. The guide explains that it was created for the purposes of training the mind. Contrary to what one may think, it does not affect the eyes directly, but rather the optic nerves of the brain are paralyzed. It is, technically speaking, neither "White" nor "Black" magic.
Poison: Attempts to poison the target. The guide explains that it was retooled from Poisona and is cited as an example of the differences between White Magic and Black Magic.
Thunder:
Fira:
Blizzara:
Thundara:
Break: Attempts to petrify the target: Bosses die instantly while party members are functionally dead until revived. The guide notes that the power of Medusa was seemingly contained within the orb and that it has no practical use outside of combat where it is one of the most effective magics; Thus, Break is considered to be the most emblematic of Black Magic.
Shade: Attempts to paralyze the enemy. The guide explains that it robs the victim of both light and sound, being a strengthened Blind. IT is also effective against multiple targets at once.
Blizzaga:
Thundaga:
Raze: Targets the enemy party: If the foe is less than or equal to 3/4ths of the caster's level, they are killed instantly. The guide explains that it was discovered by accident by a magician searching for the source of life and spread quickly afterwards. During the war, it and its improved variant were most desired due to their instant-kill abilities.
Erase: Removes buffs from the target. It was created to counteract magic designed to weaken the effectiveness of Black Magic.
Firaga:
Bio: Attacks the enemy. Is useful for being non-elemental, meaning that the only resistence against it is resistence to magic in general. It is considered a stronger variation of Poison by the guide.
Warp: Can be used to instantly kill an enemy. When cast on the field in the Famicom version, it has the added bonus of allowing the player to choose the floor they wish to warp to; This function was removed in the later versions. The guide explains that Warp is an improved version of teleport; The user has more control and it uses spacial distortions and wormhole theory. The instant kill ability is explained as the enemy being sent to gaps in space-time; This is consistent with how the ability is explained to work in earlier FF games and is explored in more detail in Final Fantasy V, which introduces the series-spanning Interdimensional Rift.
Quake:
Breakaga:
Drain:
Flare:
Death:
Meteor: